Refugees Picked Up Off Coast

Haitians, Dominicans May Signal New Exodus

A group of 112 Haitians and 16 Dominicans was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard off Miami Beach early Thursday, underscoring the turmoil that continues to plague Haiti.

The 88 men, 23 women and a 7-year-old boy were the second group of Haitians intercepted by the Coast Guard this year, but they are the first to come directly from Haiti since November.

The migrants told Coast Guard officials they left from Cap-Haitien, a city north of the Haitian capital that borders the Dominican Republic, and spent about seven days at sea.

Haiti observers said Thursday's boatload was no surprise. And while it is too early to speculate whether this foreshadows a new exodus from Haiti, there is cause for concern, they said.

"There are very little visible signs of improvement that would lead Haitians to believe that there may be more economic opportunities in the near future," a Washington political scientist visiting Haiti said in a telephone interview on Thursday. He asked that his name not be used.

"I think it's very possible that if there is not progress on the political front, real national dialogue to agree on the rules of the game, you will see more insecurity," he said.

Violent crime is on the upswing in Haiti, and political tensions seem to be increasing with the upcoming general elections in June.

A recent visit to Haiti revealed that more Haitians may be on their way to South Florida. Street talk in Cap-Haitien is that at least four boats have left there in the past two weeks. The people came from all over Haiti and reportedly paid $1,500 Haitian dollars, the equivalent of $500 U.S., for the trip.

Supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide blame opponents for the continuing turmoil.

"They [former military thugs and their supporters) are still killing people in Haiti," said Jean-Gabriel Augustin, consul general at the Haitian Consulate in Miami. "Some might still fear for their lives because these people don't want to give the government a chance."

U.S.-led forces returned Aristide to the presidency on Oct. 15 after a 1991 military coup forced the first democratically elected Haitian president into a three-year exile.

Since Aristide's restoration, only three boatloads of Haitians have been intercepted. Besides Thursday's rescue, the Coast Guard picked up 110 Haitians in November and another 12 last week. The latter group, picked up off West Palm Beach, may have been smuggled out of the Bahamas, officials said.

Thursday's group was rescued in rough seas from a nameless 50-foot sailboat at 3 a.m. about 25 miles east of Miami Beach. A 26-year-old Haitian woman, suffering from dehydration, was treated at Memorial Hospital in Hollywood and then taken into custody by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. A Haitian man was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami complaining of a back injury. He, too, is expected to be turned over to INS.

The other would-be immigrants were transferred to Coast Guard cutters and remained there through Thursday evening awaiting a State Department decision on their future.

Anthony Bryan, a professor at the University of Miami and a Haiti expert, said the likelihood of more Haitians taking to the seas is real.

"The bottom line is that Aristide's reinstatement has not meant the end of trouble in Haiti. It is clear that the political rivalry is as bad as ever," Bryan said. "You will always have boat people when you have political persecution or perceived persecution or economic regression as you do in Haiti."